Former Canadian officer testifies at Croat generals' trial

02/09/2008

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands -- Former Canadian army officer Philip Berikoff on Monday (September 1st) testified at the trial of three retired Croat generals before The Hague war crimes tribunal. Defendants Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac face charges of crimes against humanity and violation of war regulations during Operation Storm, which lasted from July to September 1995 in areas of Croatia occupied by Serbs. The prosecution witness, who was an officer with UN forces in the town of Knin, said that in August 1995 he saw "many villages in flames" and "the Croatian military and special and civil police robbing and destroying homes". Berikoff confirmed he was an eyewitness to the destruction of the villages of Kistanje, Cetine and Donji Lapac. "Across that region ... homes that were marked as Croat were left untouched while the unmarked homes that belonged to Serbs were destroyed," he told the court. (Beta, B92 - 01/09/08)